


Softer

by Sydbond



Series: Softer [8]
Category: The Brave (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Jalton, thebrave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-25 20:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14386476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sydbond/pseuds/Sydbond
Summary: Jaz isn’t soft by any means, but for him she could be.





	Softer

**Author's Note:**

> Please don’t hate me ;)
> 
> A hundred thanks to the lovely logictron who agreed to beta for me :)

Jaz wakes up in the middle of the night, definitely not feeling good. She is about to throw up and she barely makes it to the bathroom. Her head pounds painfully. Jaz groans, gripping the toilet bowl so tightly her knuckles turn white. She hates being sick. She becomes pathetic and can’t do anything.

She heaves over the toilet bowl until she is pretty sure there is nothing left in her stomach.

Dalton comes in the bathroom, visibly worried.

‘‘Hey, ‘‘ he whispers softly.

She stays still as he ties back her hair. He puts a hand to her neck and she leans on his touch.

The two of them have been leaning a lot on each other lately.

They’ve had a rough year with Elijah and Tehran, Hoffman and Preach and she needs his touch.

It’s a new deployment but she still feels so tired. The leave was emotionally draining in a way she didn’t expect.

She’d wandered for a bit, traveling to some peaceful places, visiting Preach in California and meeting up with Amir to spend a few days at McG’s in Montana. It didn’t take her long to miss Adam and before she knew it, she was heading to Pennsylvania.

She knew perfectly well just how stupid it was to join him in his cabin in the woods in the middle of nowhere, but she still did. What they’ve done, alone and undisturbed, remains imprinted in the back of her mind.

Top hands her her tooth brush as he helps her up. She starts to brush and he takes her temperature.

‘‘You don’t seem to have a fever, ‘‘ he says as he holds a washcloth to her forehead, carefully wiping the sweat there. The cloth is cold against her skin and she relishes on the cool feeling.

‘‘Probably McG’s cooking, ‘‘ she mumbles, aiming for humor, but her voice feels faint.

Adam pushes strands of hair out of her face, chuckling. ‘‘Come on, let’s get you to bed, ‘‘

He brings her back to her room, setting a trash can and a fluffy towel next to her. Somehow, he manages to force some Tylenol and water down her throat.

‘‘Stay, ‘‘ she says and through her hazy eyes, she sees him hesitate. She pushes the covers next to her, clearly inviting him to join her.

‘‘Jazzy-‘‘

‘‘Just one night. ‘‘

He never stays. Not since their few stolen nights in the Blue Ridge Mountains anyways.

She shivers and he relents, lying down next to her. She curls up to him and he wraps an arm around her, his other hand smoothing down her hair before kissing the top of her head.

Jaz hates those rules. She hates how Adam always has to sneak back to his bed in the middle of the night, how she can’t just reach for him whenever she wants to. Because it would be career suicide.

So they settle for the next best thing. Stolen kisses whenever they can, feet rubbing against ankles under tables and quiet shared nights.

She leans further into his arms, knowing very well this is one of those things she has to enjoy because it will not happen again. Not soon at least.

 

xxxxx

 

Two days later she finds herself once again dry heaving over the toilet bowl. This time she expects it.

The team got dispatched in Venezuela, a hell-hole of a mission, mere hours after she finally convinced Top to sleep in her bed. Things didn’t go as smoothly as they expected and Jaz had been badly banged up with several injuries and a concussion that had her head spinning.

McG had been clear about that, she was in for a rough couple of days.

‘‘God Jaz, you have to start waking one of us up when you’re sick, ‘‘ says McGuire as he finds her in the bathroom.

Her knees are skinned from spending so much time on them, her skin ghostly pale, sweat pearling over her forehead.

McG grabs the IV bag from the floor and places it on the bathroom counter. He hands her a towel and she wipes her mouth, falling back into a sitting position.

 

‘‘I hate feeling like this, ‘‘ she says, closing her eyes. When she opens them up, she finds McG sitting next to her, mimicking her movements as he wraps his arms around his knees.

 

‘‘Three days tops and you’ll be fine, ‘‘ he says, purposefully messing with her hair.

 

The fact that she barely reacts tells him she might be more concussed than he thought.

 

‘‘Come on, ‘‘ he says, tugging her up. She practically falls, leaning heavily on him.

  
‘‘Everything turns, ‘‘ she says, clearly out of it.

  
McGuire grabs the IV bag and picks her up, knowing she’s too sick to care. He brings her back to her bed and for the second time in a couple of days, Jaz ends up getting tucked in by some handsome, strong guy.

  
‘‘Stay, ‘‘ she says, gripping his hand.

  
‘‘I’m just going to grab you a few things, ‘‘ replies McG, clearly amused by how needy sick Jaz is.

  
‘‘Adam, please, ‘‘ she mumbles and McGuire stills. If she thinks he’s Top, she’s in a delirium and he shouldn’t push her too much.

  
He knows fully well she’s in love with their CO. He has never talked to her about it, telling himself it’s not his place to intrude.

  
‘‘Just go to sleep, Jazzy, ‘‘ he says, adjusting the covers over her.  
He watches her as her breathing evens.

This could go fifty shades of fucked up.

 

xxxxx

 

 

It’s been five days since they came back from Mission impossible: Venezuela edition. The sat phone rings at 6 in the morning, but Jaz stays curled up in bed.

The nausea has kept her awake for the better part of the night. She has gotten better at this being sick thing. For the most part, Jaz is silent enough not to wake the guys up.

  
‘‘Jaz, ‘‘ says Dalton, poking his head into her room.

  
She groans and sinks further into her pillow.

  
‘‘Jaz, ‘‘ he repeats, nudging her. ‘‘We’ve got wheels up in two hours, ‘‘

He stares at her, concerned when she curls up against him. ‘‘You better have coffee ready, ‘‘ she says in a sleep-laced voice.

  
‘‘Have you been sick all night? ‘‘ he asks and he doesn’t need her answer to know the truth. Her tired eyes tell him everything. ‘‘Wake me up next time, ‘‘ he says. His fingers caress her cheek with a tenderness he can’t show in front of the guys.

  
‘‘McG said it’ll be over soon, ‘‘ she replies, getting herself up.

Her head hurts, but there’s no nausea. This might be a good sign.

  
‘‘Come on, ‘‘ he says, ‘‘You go take a shower and I’ll make coffee, ‘‘

  
Jaz nods, rubbing sleep off of her eyes.

Adam can’t help it, he grabs her by the waist so she’s flush against him and kisses her. She kisses him back for a moment, moaning as his tongue sweeps inside her mouth.

  
‘‘You know I’d love nothing more than to spend the day in bed with you, ‘‘ he whispers, forehead leaning against hers.

  
‘‘I know, ‘‘ she replies. Her fingers drag over his beard for a second as she holds on to this moment, stealing those few seconds of alternate reality.

  
Adam lets her go and he instantly feels the loss of her heath.

 

xxxxx

 

 

They’re two days deep into their Romania mission when McG gets woken up by the sound of sick Jaz.

She’s emptying the contents of her stomach in the toilet, her breaths coming out in short puffs.

  
She spits one last time and gets up, downing a glass of water as she leans against the rusty counter of the bathroom. As far as safe houses go, this one is not exactly the best, but it has to be expected in Eastern Europe.

  
‘‘I need some air, ‘‘ she says because it’s either that or punching something. She hates this feeling of inadequacy.

  
McGuire follows her outside, making sure his sig is in the pocket of his pajamas. The air is colder than he expected, but Jaz leans against his shoulder, seemingly unaffected.

  
‘‘Have you been sick every night? ‘‘ he asks her and she nods. ‘‘Why didn’t you say something? ‘‘

  
She shakes her shoulders. ‘‘Didn’t want to worry you, ‘‘

  
‘‘It’s my job to worry, ‘‘ he says and she chuckles against his shoulder. He wraps his arm around her waist and she snuggles against him.

  
It’s not long before she falls asleep and McG can’t help but glance at her worriedly. The rest of her injuries are fine, but this concussion of hers looks like more serious stuff than he thought.

 

xxxxx

 

McGuire looks at Jaz more closely for the next days. They’re on the field, so it’s a bit hard to keep watch on her when she’s constantly paired with Top, but he comes to realizes she probably has something other than a concussion.

  
He hooks her up with IVs at night and makes sure she eats a lot in the mornings. It’s what she eats at night she can’t keep down.

  
She stares at Top a lot, but this is nothing new. What’s new is the tenderness he sees in Top’s eyes when he glances back at her.

  
When they finally manage to catch the bad guy, she comes back with a deep cut and McG fixes her wounds in the chopper. She winces as he stiches her up, battling nausea. McGuire isn’t surprised; night has fallen and it seems to be her hour of choice.

  
‘‘Do not barf on me, Khan, ‘‘ he smirks, trying to get her to lighten up.

He knows she is worried because Top also got caught in the blast, but apart from a big ass purple bruise on his leg, McGee knows Dalton will be just fine.

  
‘‘I have some of those nausea pills in the little pocket, ‘‘ replies Jaz, pointing at her army-regulation bag. ‘‘Would you mind? ‘‘ she asks.

  
McGuire goes through her bag, fingers closing on a small packet of pills. He almost throws it to her before realizing those are not the ones she is looking for. He stares at the four tiny rows of white pills. The first two are empty.

  
‘‘Do you have them? ‘‘ asks Jaz and he raises his head.

  
‘‘Yeah, ‘‘ he says, grabbing the white capped bottle and giving it to her.

  
He watches as Jaz downs two of them with a generous swig of water. Not long after she falls asleep and McG stares at her long and hard.

 

  
Maybe she’s not sick after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo what do you think?
> 
> Also my tumblr is sydbond and I just discovered that my Twitter is bond_syd haha sooo hit me up


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